Hyderabad: CPI State Secretary Kunamneni Sambasiva Rao demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi take moral responsibility for the tragic train accident at Baleshwar in Odisha, in which nearly 300 people died and 1000 were injured on Saturday. He also demanded the resignation of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav.
In a statement, the CPI secretary demanded an ex-gratia of Rs 1 crore for the dead and Rs 25 lakh for the injured. He also wanted the Centre to conduct an inquiry into the incident through a sitting judge of the High Court. The Prime Minister had made tall claims about Kavach, an anti-collision system, but still the accident took place which shows the inefficiency of the railways, he said.
CPM State secretary Tammineni Veerabhadra also demanded that the Centre conduct a comprehensive investigation into the accident and take necessary measures with regard to railway safety.
Though the Centre claimed it was modernizing the Railways, such accidents were still occuring, he said, adding that the Modi government was modernizing railway stations but ignoring rail safety.